FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ENRD

WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 2006 (202) 514-2007

WWW.USDOJ.GOV TDD (202) 514-1888

Idaho Transportation Department and

Contractor to Pay Total of $895,000 to
Settle Federal Storm Water Discharge
Claims
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) and contractor
Scarsella Brothers, Inc. have agreed to pay $895,000 for violations of the Clean
Water Act during the construction of the Bellgrove-Mica realignment of Highway
95 near Lake Coeur d'Alene in Northern Idaho, the Justice Department and U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today.

Today’s settlement concludes a lawsuit which began in 2004, alleging that ITD and
Scarsella Brothers failed to provide adequate storm water controls for a large
highway project that later deposited many tons of sediment in Mica Creek, which
flows into Mica Bay in Lake Coeur d'Alene.

Under the terms of the consent decrees, lodged today in the federal district court in
Boise, Idaho, ITD will pay a penalty of $495,000 and Scarsella Brothers will pay a
$400,000 civil penalty. As part of the settlement, ITD and Scarsella Brothers also
have agreed to send their engineers and environmental inspectors to a certified
storm water management training, and ITD has agreed to implement new
construction management practices to help avoid future violations of the storm
water regulations.

“The Idaho Transportation Department and Scarsella Brothers Construction

Company failed to follow known best management practices and their actions had a
significant impact on the receiving waters and on the Mica Bay portion of Lake
Coeur d’Alene,” said Assistant Attorney General Sue Ellen Wooldridge of the
Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “We are
committed to enforcing environmental laws and to seeing that violators undertake
the actions necessary to comply with storm water regulations in the future.”

“Runoff from construction sites is a major contributor to water quality impairment

in the U.S. The EPA is aggressively enforcing federal regulations to help control
this problem,” said Granta Y. Nakayama, EPA's Assistant Administrator for the
Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “This settlement will result in
improved water quality and is a signal of the Agency's commitment to enforcement
of our nation's environmental laws and regulations.”

In a related action brought in state court, Scarsella will pay half a million dollars to
the Mica Bay Homeowners Association to settle claims for property damage
allegedly caused by sediment discharges from the site. The Association intends to
use the money for environmental improvement projects in the Mica Bay watershed.

The penalty in these two cases is the largest EPA Region 10 has imposed thus far as
part of its regional storm water compliance initiative. Although the initiative began
in 2001 with several years of intensive outreach, including workshops, mailers, and
an expanded website, it was not until 2005, after EPA stepped up its inspection and
enforcement efforts, that the region saw a dramatic increase in compliance rates.

Between June 2004 and April 2005, the number of construction site operators in
Idaho signed up for the Construction General Permit rose 112 percent. EPA
inspectors have also noted that construction site operators are increasingly in
compliance with the permit’s requirements to design, install, and maintain storm
water controls to prevent common construction site pollutants such as sediment,
petroleum products, and concrete washout from discharging into nearby waterways.
Since the initiative began, EPA has brought cases against more than 100 operators.

The proposed consent decree lodged today is open for a 30-day public comment
period. A copy of the consent decree is available on the Department of Justice
website at http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/open.html.

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